The Opened Book

07/06/2026

06/09/2026

Oscar Wilde was eventually destroyed by the very society that once applauded him. After being sentenced to two years of hard labor for his private life, he reflected on the crushing weight of public expectation. He saw Victorian morality as a trap designed to hollow out the individual. To Wilde, the only sin was being ordinary for the sake of other people's comfort.

He wrote: There are moments when one has to choose between living one's own life, fully, entirely, completely-or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.

This choice is rarely a single event. It is a series of daily decisions to either honor your own nature or perform for an audience that will eventually forget you. Wilde reminds us that the world's hypocrisy is a bottomless pit; if you try to fill it with your own sacrifices, you will only end up empty.

Are you currently building a life you enjoy, or a life that simply looks good to others?

05/31/2026

Why do we search for peace in our external surroundings when it can only be anchored within the soul? What happens to our perspective when we stop seeing ourselves as separate from the natural world?

The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their oneness with the universe... and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. — Black Elk

Black Elk was a renowned holy man of the Oglala Lakota who carried the weight of a changing world. He was a cousin of the great warrior Crazy Horse and a survivor of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. Despite witnessing the violent upheaval of his culture, his philosophy remained grounded in the idea of the Sacred Hoop—the belief that all life is interconnected and circular.

He taught that when you recognize the center of the universe resides within you, you stop seeking validation or stability from the outside. You become the source of your own tranquility, realizing that the same life force moving through the stars is moving through you.

05/31/2026

Creativity doesn’t start with knowing. It starts with being willing not to know.

In the early stage of any project, your job isn’t to be the expert. It’s to be the learner. Stay open. Ask better questions. Pay attention.

As Einstein said, the “mystical” is where discovery begins. In my experience, that’s true in art, science, and life.

Don’t rush to have answers.

Prepare yourself to receive them.

My forthcoming book, You Are Creative: A Five-Stage Process to Unlock Ideas, Solve Problems, and Find Possibility Everywhere, explores this process in depth. Pre-order it via the link in the comments, and add it to your To-Read list on Goodreads.